Season 1, Episode 14: Friends in Low Places

 

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The hunters took two cars from the A-frame to a local 'Irish' pub.  John rode along with Pastor Jim Murphy, while Bobby Singer rode with Rufus Turner.

John pulled Bobby aside as soon as they got inside the place.  

"I don't appreciate you bringing Rufus," he said, all belligerence.  Bobby was a good outlet for John's anxiety and frustration.  

"I don't know him."

Bobby's eyebrows rose, but his tone was mild as he replied, "Well, we couldn't very well leave him behind after we told the women we were havin' a boy's night out."

"Besides, Rufus is family."  Bobby's voice hardened, daring John to disagree.  "Anythin you wanna say to me, you can say in front of him."  

"Well, it's not like I have a choice at this point,"  John grumbled, but he didn't argue any further.  Rufus wasn't that much of a concern, he decided.  He needed answers about Mary, and for that, he needed these men's input.

"Mary probably seems just fine to you,"  he addressed the group of hunters a few minutes later, after a server had shown them to a table.  There was no need for any of them to peruse the menus they'd  been offered.  They were here to drink, John thought.  And knowing these men, they'd be drinking hard tonight.   

"I've noticed things about her, and it troubles me,"  he went on.  "Little things, but they add up to big suspicions in my mind."

"None of us even knew Mary,"  Jim pointed out in his gentle way.  "Why don't you tell us what you've picked up on, and also tell us how that's out of character for Mary."  

John nodded, grateful for the support from his old friend.  He hadn't forgotten how Ellen and Bobby had brushed off his revelations about their neighbor, the witch.  They thought he had a screw loose.  Hell, maybe they were right about the neighbor, but not about Mary, John thought.  As Jim said, none of them even knew her.  

"Well for starters, she's changed.  I mean, physically.  When she arrived, her wedding ring wasn't on her finger,"  John told them.  "She had it on a chain around her neck.  If she was reliving happy moments in heaven with her memories of me, why would she take it off?"

"That is strange,"  Bobby admitted.  "What else?  There's gotta be more than just her wedding ring."  

John noticed the server approaching their table and didn't answer.

"Welcome to Plastic Paddy's!  I'm Denise and I'll be taking care of you this evening.  Are you ready to order drinks?"

"Whiskey.  Make it a double."

"I'll have the same,"  Bobby told her.

"Just beer for me, thank you."  

John took in every detail without thinking too much about it.  Hypervigilance was a long-ingrained habit.  Of course Jim wouldn't order hard liquor, he thought.  It wouldn't do for a man of the cloth to be seen getting drunk.  Somehow, he thought, the Army veteran had managed to avoid the alcoholism that seemed to be a direct consequence of dealing with the supernatural.  Maybe his religious faith had shielded him.

"Ah, a beer for me, too, sweetheart."

By contrast, John noticed a hesitation on Rufus Turner's part as he placed his order.  Maybe Bobby had made him the designated driver.

"Okay, John, what else have you got?"  Bobby said the moment the waitress was out of hearing.

"Her hair's shorter...Layered,"  John said after a moment of searching for the right term.  He'd brought a photograph to back up his assertion, and pulled it out now to show the others. 

 "See?  This picture was taken shortly before Mary was killed."

"She looks the same to me.  What do you think, Bobby?  Whoo, but look at you now,"  Rufus said to John.  "Like five miles of bad road!  Like you was rode hard and put up wet--"

"Because I've aged, you numbskull!"

John felt the weight of Jim's hand on his shoulder, a gentle warning, and realized he'd raised his voice to a shout.

"That's my point,"  he went on in a lower tone.  "Of course I've changed!  Mary, though, she should have stayed exactly the same.  But her hairstyle is different.  How do you explain that?"  

"I don't,"  Rufus said, but it was clear he wasn't conceding the argument to John.  

"A young, hot babe descends from heaven to be with me?  You can bet I'm not gonna be focused on her hairstyle.  Or asking her any dumb questions,"  Rufus concluded.

"Rufus brings up a point,"  Bobby said quickly, before John could lose control of his temper again.  "Have you asked Mary about the changes?"  

"No,"  John admitted.  "Believe me, I'd love to just let it go and be happy, believe this really is some sort of heaven.  But I can't let it go.  And I can't bring myself to ask her--"  

"Because you're afraid you won't wanna know the answers,"  Bobby broke in.  "I know what that's like."  

Bobby's voice remained calm, as stoic as ever, but there was a story behind his words, one that John hadn't heard.  Now was not the time,  he thought, and snatched back the photograph when Bobby tried to pass it along to Jim.

"I did ask Mary about the nightmares she's been having since being brought back, and she lied right to my face,"  John said.

"I know we did all the tests to make sure she wasn't a monster or a demon,  but, Bobby, I'm beginning to think we must have missed something."  

"Waitress,"  Rufus said quietly.  

John realized he'd been winding up again, gesturing with his hands and getting louder.  He sat back with a huff of annoyance at himself.

"Your drinks, guys... Anything else I can get you right now?"    

John was glad the waitress had picked up on the waste of time it would be for her to make small talk or push the daily special.  She left quickly.

"She's not a demon or a monster... Angels don't sleep, so her having nightmares rules that out,"  Rufus mused.  

"If she ain't human, she's somethin' we've never even heard of, and that just ain't likely,"  said Bobby.  "John, we've got more than a hundred years of hunting experience at this table.  My money's on your wife being human."

John couldn't help but let his shoulders slump a little.  Bobby was right, of course, but that still didn't put John's mind at ease.  

"It wasn't so much what she lied about," he said, and hated the plaintive tone he couldn't stop from leaking into his voice.  "Bobby, she was good at it.  I would have believed her in a heartbeat, if I hadn't been a hunter for more than twenty years.  It just makes me wonder, what lies did she tell me back when I was a stupid, lovestruck kid?"

"Stop it, John."  

Jim Murphy's voice wasn't sharp or angry, but it had dropped in register, carrying an authority that silenced John immediately and snapped his attention to the minister.  

"Focus on here and now.  You love Mary and she loves you.  The problem isn't supernatural,"  Jim said.  

"Then what is it?" John demanded.  

"How have you been feeling since you arrived?"  Jim asked.  

Before John could protest the apparent change of subject, he went on, "Emotions out of control?  Nightmares?  Flashbacks to your time in hell?"  

"All of those,"  John admitted.  

"I expect Mary is suffering the same symptoms, though of course not because of hell,"  Jim said.

"She's got PTSD because of heaven?"  John asked in disbelief.  

"No, Jim's right.  Not because heaven was a bad experience, but because it's so good, you forget all about how you wound up there in the first place,"  Bobby said.  

"Mary spent the past twenty-some years reliving her happiest memories.  Now she's havin' to face how she died a horrible, violent death, not to mention completely missin' out on your boys' lives."

Jim nodded agreement.  "All of us who spent any time in heaven have had to come to terms with dying bloody.  I can't explain about Mary's hairstyle, but I guarantee that whatever she lied about is just something she's not ready to talk about yet.  She just needs time, John.  Time, and the support and understanding of her husband."  

"She tried to tell me."  John felt a stab of guilt.  "I should have known.  People don't have nightmares for no reason."  

"Don't beat yourself  up about it,"  Jim said.  

John nodded just to get Jim to let it go.  He still felt guilty, and rightly so, he thought. He'd suspected his wife of something monstrous instead of being there for her when she needed him.  But he would make it up to Mary, John thought.  After all, he had all of eternity.

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